Tony,
Thank you. I took me some time to finally come up with the final profile of what has now become the "new" forward and aft lower chain plate knees. I had a general idea of what I wanted, then through pattern evolvement, I achieved what I was looking for. Honestly it would have been much easier to glass in a knee that had a strainght or tappered inner edge instead of the curved profile I chose, but.....when I made that pattern, it looked too big and obnoxious. Plus, for me, subtle curves can be made to look good if one takes the time to glass them into the surrounding vessel's hull and overhead.
Okay I have to admit, I am motivated to continue progress, it's just that my work / progress pace seems to be so much slower than all the other talented folks on this site. I never had a completion date in mind when I began, but then again, I didn't see all the issues / improvements / personalization that have revealed them selves to me over my two years of stewardship of "Ceili". I just want to do right and ensure that when she is back in sailing trim, she'll be on point.
Sorry to hear about the low tempatures on your end. For me, anything below 50 brings me to a near stop. But here in NC, where still in the 60's.

Ebb,
White oak is perfectly acceptable for use in the marine industry as I'm sure your well aware of, however "red" oak belongs in the home and on land. Despite the degradation of the white oak "wedge" I pulled out of the bilge on "Ceili", I'm confident that had I left well enough alone, it would have continued to serve in the capacity so designed by Pearson. But....., it's like me to not settle for "mediocrity" and felt I could do better. For me the equation seems to be 40% money, and 60 % time / labor, and I'm sure that many folks at Pearson could have done the same if they didn't have to perform under strict timelines and a budget. Like others, I refuse to add up how much in material alone, I have devoted to "Ceili", it's definately been a journey thus far and our bonding only increases with time. Now if only I could be sailing!

To all, have a great evening.